# An early Asian Homo erectus population reached Flores and evolved small body and brain size by insular…

> Most likely: An early Asian Homo erectus population reached Flores and evolved small body and brain size by insular dwarfing.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-floresiensis/answers/ANS0CZNMJT05D1P/an-early-asian-homo-erectus-population-reached-flores-and  
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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Homo floresiensis, the origin of the Flores "hobbits"](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-floresiensis)[From which earlier hominin did Homo floresiensis descend?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-floresiensis/questions/QST0CZNMHTR12T1/from-which-earlier-hominin-did-homo-floresiensis-descend)Answer

Answer · Homo floresiensis, the origin of the Flores "hobbits"

# An early Asian Homo erectus population reached Flores and evolved small body and brain size by insular…

An early Asian Homo erectus population reached Flores and evolved small body and brain size by insular dwarfing.

**Most likely** Answers **1** questionPublished0

## Where it stands

**Most likely** Its tests partly supported it: four pieces of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- The oldest Flores hominins share derived traits with early Javanese H. erectus.
- Brain and body size reduction from erectus values is within what island dwarfing can produce in the time available.
- Primitive postcranial traits are explicable as size-related or reversals.

## What would rule it out

- Fossils older than 700 ka on Flores that are already floresiensis-sized and lack any erectus-specific derived trait, or a size-corrected phylogeny that still excludes H. erectus as ancestor.

## Evidence 4 for · 1 against

[A 700,000-year-old Mata Menge tooth resembles early Javanese H. erectus.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-floresiensis/evidence/EVD0CZNMK1T2PM7/a-700-000-year-old-mata-menge-tooth-resembles-early-javanese)

Supported

FOR

[Deformational plagiocephaly, a marker of helpless infancy, occurs in Indonesian H. erectus and H.…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-floresiensis/evidence/EVD0CZNMKS85VGN/deformational-plagiocephaly-a-marker-of-helpless-infancy)

Suggestive

FOR

[LB1's endocranial volume (about 426 cc) can be reached from Javanese H. erectus under insular scaling.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-floresiensis/evidence/EVD0CZNMK9M0WFD/lb1s-endocranial-volume-about-426-cc-can-be-reached-from)

Supported

FOR

[Quantitative-genetic island-rule models show fast brain-body reduction is plausible.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-floresiensis/evidence/EVD0CZNMKHE08M5/quantitative-genetic-island-rule-models-show-fast-brain-body)

Suggestive

FOR

[Parsimony and Bayesian phylogenies place H. floresiensis outside a H. erectus ancestry.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-floresiensis/evidence/EVD0CZNMM120DT5/parsimony-and-bayesian-phylogenies-place-h-floresiensis)

Supported

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[From which earlier hominin did Homo floresiensis descend?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/homo-floresiensis/questions/QST0CZNMHTR12T1/from-which-earlier-hominin-did-homo-floresiensis-descend)

Most likelyAn early Asian Homo erectus population reached Flores and evolved small body and brain size by insular…

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). An early Asian Homo erectus population reached Flores and evolved small body and brain size by insular… [Answer ANS0CZNMJT05D1P]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0CZNMJT05D1P
```

Key

**ANS** 0CZNMJT05D1P

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Published

Version

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